'No water for years' - Port Edward residents plea to resolve crisis
Port Edward residents on the south coast are making another urgent plea for help to resolve a years-long water crisis.
Ward 1 councillor Stephanie Breedt says their taps ran dry for quite some time recently.
This was due to critically low water levels reported at an uMtamvuna system reservoir.
She says power outages also played a role.
"KwaZulu-Natal does not have enough electricity to get the pumps pumping enough water to supply everybody. For example, at the moment, the demand is we need 30 million litres per day to be distributed amongst the people here.
"On a good day, we get 18 million litres per day, and when we have load shedding, that amount drops significantly. So, we have a big problem with getting enough water out there to the community."
Breedt says some residents receive very little to no water.
READ: Mchunu says communities must pester govt for reliable water supply
Others have to source their own supply.
"If you're in a high-lying area or if you're in a part of Port Edward or Banners Rest, which is in the end of the line, you just don't get water."
"We have water tankers, which deliver water to communities on occasion, but water tankers are also in short supply, so there are just so many people who just don't get water, and we have a large elderly community."
Local Chris Minnie says it's frustrating.
"From Port Edward all the way up to Ramsgate, there is a constant problem with no water. We have residents here that haven't had water for years at their residential properties."
Ugu Municipality says it's doing all it can to resolve the water challenges.
It says there are still issues at reservoirs in Palm Beach, Trafalgar and Glenmore.
Some are pumping in areas including Hanover, Florida Old and New and KwaXolo.
